Politico reports: “Schock’s arguments for appealing the indictment centered on two main points. First, under the Speech or Debate Clause, a constitutional protection given to lawmakers and staff for legitimate legislative activities, he can’t be charged with falsifying reimbursement claims. Secondly, in a more technical argument, Schock’s lawyers asserted that since reimbursement regulations were created by House rule, it would be a violation of separation-of-powers principles for the executive branch, via the Justice Department, to charge him with a crime. Under Schock’s approach, only the House could interpret whether he violated House rules.”

Schock has been trying to get the charges, which originally numbered 24, thrown out for years. His last unsuccessful attempt was last fall.

In August 2017, Schock’s lawyers asked for the case to be dismissed because, according to the attorneys, witnesses were asked “distasteful, offensive,” and “prejudicial” questions about every part of Schock’s sex life including whether he is gay and if his girlfriend was a beard. The lawyers accused investigators of “prosecutorial misconduct on a variety of grounds” over the invasive questions and asked for the case to be dismissed.